The wait-and-see attitude being demonstrated by businesses today is really not in the interests of economic prosperity and should be condemned.
Last week, I visited different companies in Workington, Willowvale, Graniteside, Southerton and Msasa. I was appalled to see that many manufacturing companies have put their operations on hold owing to the forthcoming general elections. Some have scaled down operations and others have postponed major decisions.
Businesspeople should know that the process of developing a business is challenging and elections will come and go. As going concerns, businesses should grow up and start operating with the knowledge that elections don’t result in a command economy.
Economic growth
Our new constitution and recent policies have recognised that the private sector is an engine of economic growth and have pledged to support it. The new constitution has also pledged to bring sanity to the management of state enterprises.
Under the management of statutory bodies, the constitution is advocating that an Act of Parliament must provide for the competent and effective operation of statutory bodies and, in particular, must ensure that their chief executive officers serve for limited periods.
The companies that have closed shop until after elections should realise that it is going to cost them money to resuscitate their business.
Suspending operations without generating revenue means that fixed costs accumulate. Given how difficult it is to fire employees, companies that have closed shop pay their workers on a monthly basis.
Businesses should learn to draw the line between business and politics, just as many of them know how to separate business from pleasure. We cannot tolerate corporate citizens sabotaging the economic progress.
Ghost town
I have been trying to work out why companies are vacating their offices in town to see if there is a correlation between their decision and the elections. I visited the Red, Blue, Yellow and Green gates floors at the Eastgate Complex last week and was perplexed to see that many companies have vacated the complex.
It is true that high rentals could be chasing away companies to cheaper offices out of town, but there also may be a connection with the upcoming elections.
Although Tony Hawkins believes that “only the naïve expect a constructive discussion of serious economic and social policies during an election year”. I believe that it should be business as usual. In this election year, political parties should not manipulate businesses with a view to winning votes. Voters are workers who depend on business and no sane political party wants to mess with voters.
Business and labour
Parties should rather win the trust of businesses and labour. This is why parties have outlined in their recent policies, such as JUICE, how they are going to address the fundamental issues of business and labour.
Parties are therefore asking these questions: How can we improve the productivity of labour to allow it to cross the poverty datum line?
How can we help businesses to increase their capacity utilisation, produce competitively and create more jobs?
Post published in: Business